Seventh Danilo Petrucci at the end of Friday free practices of the Lenovo Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera. Eleventh time overall for Andrea Dovizioso
At Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” officially kicked off today the Lenovo Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera with the first two free practice sessions.
After finishing this morning FP1 in 17th place in 1:34.101, Danilo Petrucci improved his best time by more than a second in FP2. The Ducati Team rider made the most of the new tyre in the final minutes of the session, setting the fastest lap in 1:32.825 and taking his Desmosedici GP bike in the seventh position.
Andrea Dovizioso, who was 13th in this morning FP1, closed the first day with the eleventh time overall in 1:32.945; the rider from Forlì was able to improve his best time by over 923 thousandths in the afternoon session. With 15 riders closed within less than a second, Andrea closes only 755 thousandths off the top of today’s timesheets and only 3 cents of a second from the top ten.
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 1:32.825 (7th)
“It was a good day, and it’s always nice to be able to race at our home track. With the new asphalt, the track conditions have changed, and there is much more grip than last year. Unfortunately, there are several bumps and that have created some problems for us. We have worked hard today to try to fix this, and it seems that in the afternoon, we were able to find a solution. Now we’ll have to try to understand how the tyres work for the race.”
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1:32.945 (11th)
“It has been a very strange day. This morning I wasn’t able to take advantage of the full session, and I wasn’t able to find a good feeling with the bike. I think this is because of the conditions of the new asphalt; there is a lot of grip, but also several bumps and I always feel like I am slower than the lap times I am actually doing. Now we will work to come back stronger tomorrow. It will be crucial to be able to find positive sensations again to then focus on the final details for the race”.
The Ducati Team will head out on track again tomorrow morning at 9:55 AM for FP3, while qualifying will be held starting from 2:10 PM local time, at the end of the fourth and final free practice session.
